


all the best people

by AAABatteries



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s07e11 The Secret Garden, Gen, Knight Rook: A History, Missing Scene, alice isn't actually in it, mentions of gothel, no betas we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-22 22:36:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16606706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AAABatteries/pseuds/AAABatteries
Summary: Alone. Robin's been a lot of things, but never that. She could hardly bear to imagine this girl left to fend for herself, with the weight of the whole world on her shoulders. The last she heard, Killian was still looking for her. When she speaks again, her words are as much for him as they are for his daughter."I hope you find her soon."





	all the best people

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick post-7x11 scene between Robin & Killian! I love what little we have of their friendship and wanted to fill in how Robin learned about Alice before they met.
> 
> Written for day 3 of Knightrook: A History on Tumblr!
> 
> (also this is like Baby's First Fic since 2012 please be gentle)
> 
> [Tumblr](http://zossie.tumblr.com/post/180094393851/written-for-knightrook-a-history-day-3-just)

The camp is quiet at night. It's a change from home, Robin thinks, but not an unwelcome one. Storybrooke was hardly a noisy town, but she had grown accustomed to the low thrum of the heating system and the occasional crunch of gravel under tires. Here in the cold evening air, all she hears is the fire's gentle crackling and the faint sound of crickets. Gone, too, is the warm buzz of magic beneath her skin. But that one, she doesn't miss so much.

She spots Killian seated alone by the fire, hunched forward, his fingers idly fidgeting with the tip of his hook and his gaze fixed blankly on the flames. She hasn't met _this_ Killian, not before today, only heard about him in passing back home. The resemblance is uncanny, though, and she has to remind herself this isn't the Deputy Jones she knew.

He snaps out of his trance and sits up when he hears her approaching footsteps. "Robin," he breathes, as if surprised.

"Hey," she says, taking a seat on the log next to him. "I, uh, wanted to say thanks. For today."

A sheepish smile crosses his face. "Your mother’s the one you should be thanking. All I did was—"

"I'm serious," Robin insists, leaning forward to meet his gaze. "You didn't have to stick your neck out to save a total stranger. It means a lot."

Killian's smile fades into something a little more somber. He nods, unused to the gratitude. "It was the least I could do."

Neither of them speak for a long moment. Robin takes a deep breath and puts her palms towards the fire, letting her fingers soak up the heat. There was a second thing she had come to talk to him about, and this one, she suspects, is a touch more personal.

"You said something back there," she begins, her voice soft. "That you wouldn't let Gothel separate another parent and child."

She studies his face before she continues. He hardly moves, but from the way his eyes flit downward, she's certain she already knows the answer to her next question.

"That was about you, wasn't it?"

He sighs, and suddenly Robin realizes she can see the years of exhaustion behind his eyes. She doesn't know the specifics of what Gothel did, but it's plain to her it weighs heavy on his soul. She shudders to imagine her own mother in his shoes, weary and heartbroken, had things gone wrong in the witch's cottage.

"I—I'm sorry," she says, looking down to her feet. "I shouldn't have—"

"No, no, you're right. It's okay," Killian interrupts, then falls silent. When he speaks again, his voice is quiet. "My daughter."

Robin's heard about his daughter once before, she thinks, in a vague story passed about some time after Henry Mills left town, but she hasn't learned the full story. She never thought much of it in her childhood, but now that she sits here face to face with the man in question, father without a daughter and daughter without a father, the need to know the rest overwhelms her.

"What happened to her?" she asks, hoping she isn't prying too deep.

"That witch, she—well, she's done a lot of things, I suppose," he answers. "But the worst of all was when she separated us... and left my little girl all alone."

 _Alone_. Robin's been a lot of things, but never that. She could hardly bear to imagine this girl left to fend for herself, with the weight of the whole world on her shoulders. The last she heard, Killian was still looking for her. When she speaks again, her words are as much for him as they are for his daughter.

"I hope you find her soon."

He cracks a small smile, and to her surprise, she can see faint amusement on his face.

"As a matter of fact, I have," he says. Robin feels a wave of relief, until the girl's absence dawns on her.

"Hold on, if you've found her... shouldn't she be here?" she asks.

"She should," he answers, a forlorn look on his face, "but it's complicated. Gothel's cruelty was twofold—my daughter was trapped in her tower from birth. I spent years trying to figure out a way for her to leave—and one day, I was _seconds_ away from freeing her, when..."

He trails off, lost in the memory. There's something else in his eyes that takes a moment for her to place—regret. _Replaying the event, asking if he could have done things differently?_ she wonders.

He takes a deep breath and finishes, "the witch poisoned my heart."

"Oh," Robin says softly. She isn't familiar with what a poisoned heart entails, but nothing she imagines is pleasant.

"She escaped the tower, by some miracle," he continues. "But... she can't come near me. If she does, the poison will activate, and, well... you can imagine."

Robin nods, solemn. What could possess a person to do such a thing was beyond her. Only hours prior, she had failed to see through the witch's deception herself until it was nearly too late. She's still recovering from the experience, and hearing about the depth of Gothel's crimes shakes her, but she takes small comfort in knowing someone understands.

"That's awful," she finally manages.

"Aye," Killian agrees. "I won't let her do that to anyone again."

They fall into silence once more.

Robin bites her lip and turns back to the fire, unsure of what to say. Part of her wants to assure him he'll find a cure, but she doesn't feel her words are enough when his search has been so long and fruitless.

This time, Killian breaks the silence.

"Are you alright?"

She perks up. "Me?"

He raises an eyebrow incredulously. "Is there anyone else here? Seems you've had a rough day."

His concern takes her by surprise. She expected it from her mother, but it's different coming from Killian.

"I'm okay," she says quickly, before she can stop to ask herself if it's the truth.

Killian opens his mouth to reply when she speaks again, the day catching up with her.

"Actually, I guess I'm just... a little overwhelmed, you know?" she admits.

He nods in understanding.

"New realm, new people, all of this," she elaborates, the words spilling out of her as she gestures at the camp around them. "Not to mention the crazy witch trying to steal my magic."

"Sounds like you've got a lot on your plate there."

"Yeah," she says, "but all told... I'm starting to think it's not so bad. So, I'll be okay."

This time, she knows it's the truth. She gently places her hand on Killian's wrist and adds, "And I know you and your daughter will be, too."

He smiles softly. "You'd like Alice, I bet. She's probably around your age, too."

Robin finds herself struck by the urge to ask if this _Alice_ has ever been to Wonderland. Knowing her family's history, however, she suspects she already knows the answer, and refrains from asking.

"Guess we'll find out," she says instead.

After another pause, a thought crosses her mind, and she can't help but burst into a wide grin. Killian takes notice and gives her a curious look. "Something wrong?"

"No, I just," she starts, suppressing a laugh and waving her hand dismissively, "I feel like I should be apologizing to you about the Bug or something right now."

"Sorry, the Bug?"

Her smile widens at his response. As if she should have expected anything else.

"It doesn't actually have to do anything with you. Just... the _other_ you, back in Storybrooke," she explains, which earns a nod from Killian. "I kind of hot-wired the Sheriff's Bug."

"You've lost me."

"Stole her car," Robin clarifies.

He beams with pride. "Guess there's a little pirate in you, huh?"

She laughs, and for the first time that day, she realizes she doesn't feel the drain from losing her magic or the confusion of the whole afternoon anymore. She still has a lot to figure out in this new land, but for now, she feels at ease. And that's enough.

**Author's Note:**

> hey how do you guys come up with titles? I can't


End file.
